but a wounded spirit who can bear Iob was not only afflicted in his body and outward estate but also troubled and wounded in his cōscience with the fearful apprehension of Gods wrath And therefore hee complaineth Iob. 6.4 that the arrowes of the Almightie were in him the venime or poyson whereof did drinke vp his spirit and the terrours of God did fight or set themselues in array against him And Dauid cryeth out Psal 22 1. My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee and art so farre from my health and from the words of my roaring And in another place he saith and 32.3.4 When I held my tongue my bones consumed when I roared all the day long For thy hand was heauie vpon me day and night and my moysture is turned into the drought of summer And in another place he maketh such a lamentable complaint as if hee had beene brought to the very pit of desperation and 38.2.3.4.5 6.7.8 Thine arrowes saith hee sticke fast in me and thy hand presseth me sore There is nothing sound in my flesh because of thine anger neither is there any rest in my bones by reason of my sinne For mine iniquities are gone ouer mine head and as a mightie burden they are too heauie for mee My wounds stincke aad are corrupt because of my foolishnesse I am bowed and crooged very sore I goe mourning all the day For my reines are full of burning and there is nothing sound in my flesh I am weakened and sore broken I roare for the very griefe of my heart c. And againe and 130.1 Out of the deepe places haue I called vnto thee O Lord as if hee had beene euen in the bottome of hell In a word Hezekiah that good King complaineth that besides the sicknesse which God laid vpon his bodie that brought him euen to deathes dore the Lord had broken al his bones like a lyon Isa 38.13.14 and from day to night he made an end of him and that he chattered like a crane or swallow and mourned as a doue By this we see that euen the children of God doe many times wrastle with desperation it selfe and the Lord doth so long hide his face from them as they seeme vtterly to be forsaken and beginne to thinke that his mercie is cleane gone for euer as Dauid saith and that hee will bee fauourable no more And therefore the Church of God is compared to a lillie among thornes to giue vs to vnderstand that though it be very louely beautifull in the sight of God yet it is subiect to many miseries and accombred with many molestations But here it may be some will obiect if the case bee so that the children of God be subiect to so many great afflictions then it seemeth that either their sins are not fully forgiuen them or else that God is not iust in inflicting such punishments vpon them To this I answer Psal 103.3 Col. 2 13 1 Iohn 1 7 that first for the sins of Gods children they are all absolutely forgiuen The hlood of Christ as the Apostle saith Isa 1 8 doth clense vs from al sin So that though they be as scarlet yet the Lord maketh them as white as snow thogh they be red like crimson hee maketh them as woll and 44 22. Yea the Lord putteth away our transgressions like a cloud and our sinnes like a mist Mich. 7.19 he subdueth our iniquities and casteth them into the bottome of the Sea So as they shall neuer rise vp in iudgement against vs to accuse or condemne vs. Againe the Lord is righteous in all his waies Psal 145.17 holy in all his workes and being Iudge of all the world as Abraham said he must needs do right Gen. 18 25 And forasmuch as our Sauiour Christ hath satisfied Gods iustice for our sins 1. Pet. 2.24 hath borne them in his bodie on the crosse feing the Lord hauing punished them once in Christ Non his punitur in idem cannot iustly punish thē again in vs therfore it must needs follow that the miseries wherunto the children of God are subiect are not punishments of their sins but the Lord hath other ends for which he afflicteth them Now the ends are many but for order sake we will refer thē to three heads Some of them are in respect of Gad some in respect of vs some in respect of others The end that God aimeth at in respect of himselfe is twofold First therby to manifest set forth his owne glory As our Sauiour said cōcerning the man that was borne blind Iohn 9 2 3 that that affliction was laid vpon him neither for his owne sinnes nor for his fathers sinnes but that the workes of God might be shewed on him And indeed no small glory redoundeth vnto God by the afflictions of his children As the power of God is more magnified and declared in aduersitie then euer it could be in prosperitie For that which the Lord said to the Apostle Paul concerning outward afflictions 2. Cor. 12.9 My power is made perfite through weakenesse For when we are in prosperitie see no euill we seeme not to stand need of Gods helpe But when God deliuereth vs out of troble then is his power manifested and then haue we occasion offered to glorifiie him Psal 50.15 As it is said in the Psalme Call vpon me in the day of trouble and I will deliuer thee and thou shalt glorifie mee Yea though the Lord for causes best knowne to himselfe doe not deliuer his children out of their miseries and tribulations yet this is no small matter of glory vnto him 2. Cor. 1 4. 1. Pet. 1.8 that in the middest of them all he ministreth comfort vnto them and maketh them cheerful and causeth them to reioyce with ioy vnspeakeable and glorious Secondly to declare his anger and indignation against sinne that when the wicked shall see that Gods dearest children if they take libertie to sinne doe not escape the rod they may know what themselues are to looke for at his hands according to that speech of the Apostle Peter If Iudgement first begin at the house of God 1. Pet. 4 17. what shall bee the end of them that obey not the Gospell of God The ends that God aimeth at in respect of vs are diuerse First to correct and chasten vs for our faults As the Apostle saith When we are iudged we are chastened of the Lord. 1. Cor. 11.32 As a father that hath care of his childe if he see him take euill courses will correct him to bring him to amendment so our most mercifull father will not suffer his children to continue in sinne Heb. 12 6. but vseth corrections to reclame them Secondly to try and exercise the graces that are in them and to make them more conspicuous Not as though the Lord were ignorant of them For he that made them
is at liberty will not come neare a man but when hee is hotly pursued with the dogges hee will runne to him of his owne accord for succour So it fareth oftentimes with vs when wee are at ease and nothing doth molest vs wee turne our backes vpon GOD but when wee are brought into distresse or danger we are glad to repaire vnto him for helpe As one confesseth of himselfe and it is our case aswell as his a Si bene essem sine te non venitem ad te If I could be well without thee I would neuer come at thee As the water when it is at large and hath scope enough runneth with a still and silent motion but being brought into a streight it maketh a great noyse In like manner when a man is at large he looketh not much to this duetie of prayer but when hee is in affliction and straites hee will excite and stirre vp himselfe thereunto So did the children of Israel in the time of their bondage they sighed and cryed Exo. 2 23 24 and made their moane vnto GOD. And wee reade in many places of the Booke of Iudges That howsoeuer in their prosperity they were vntoward carelesse of God Chap. 3. and 4 yet when God raised vp any new enemies against them they cryed vnto him And Dauid saith of himselfe that although before while he thought his mountain to be strong enough as we haue heard he was foolish and prowd yet when God hid his face from him Psal 30.2 then hee cryed vnto the Lord and praied vnto him And we may obscrue that the most of his Psalmes were made when hee was in affliction Yea our Sauior Christ himselfe thogh all his lifetime hee was much conuersant in prayer sometime rising earely in the morning before day Mar. 1.35 and sometime spending the whole night therein yet he neuer prayed more earnestly nor more feruently then immediately before his passion when as the Apostle saith Heb. 5.7 he offered vp prayers and supplications with strong crying and teares yea he was so seruent that his sweat was like droppes of bloud trickling downe to the ground Luke 22.44 Wee see then by all that hath beene spoken that affliction is as it were a whet-stone to set an edge vpon our deuotion and sharpen our hearts to prayer Sixtly affliction doth containe the children of God in obedience It is with the best of vs as Agiselaus said of the Athenians that a Liberi maliâ—unt serui boni When they were at libertie they were nought but when they were in bondage they were good so we in our prosperity do start aside like a broken bow but when affliction commeth wee submitte our selues to the Lords yoke The people of Israel when the hand of God was vpon them eyther by warre or famine or any other calamity carried themselues very religiously and walked in obedience vnto his will But when God carryed them vp to the high places of the earth as Moses saith that they might eate the fruites of the fieldes Deut. 32 i3 14 15 when hee caused them to sucke hony out of the stone oile out of the hard rocke when hee gaue them butter of kine and milke of sheepe with fatte of lambes and rammes fed in Bashan with the fatte of the graines of wheate and made them drinke the red liquor of the grape then they that should haue beene vpright when they waxed fatte spurned with their heeles they were fat they were grosse they were laden with fatnesse therefore they forsooke God that made them and regarded not the strong God of their saluation And this doth Dauid confesse of himselfe when he saith Before I was afflicted I went astray Psal 119.67 but now I keep thy word And the Church acknowledgeth that before the Lord corrected her Ierem 31.18 shee was like an vntamed calfe Though man were created after the Image of God and aduaunced to great honour yet if God let him alone Psal 49.20 hee will become like vnto the beasts that perish as Dauid saith And therefore the Lord threatneth the rebellious Iewes Hosea 2.6 that he will stoppe their way with thornes and make an hedge that they should not finde their pathes Where hee sheweth that necessitie requireth that hee should holde them in with seuere Discipline and sharpe corrections comparing them to wanton and vnruly cattell which must bee kept in with thornes and hedges lest they leape out of the pasture and goe astray Seauenthly it helpeth to tame and subdue the vnrulinesse of the flesh that it may be in better subiection to the Spirit The flesh is like an head-strong horse which if he be fatted and pampered in the stable for a while waxeth so frampall as hee can hardly be ruled and brought to acknowledge his rider So this stubborne flesh of ours if it inioy but alitle prosperity it straitway groweth so rebellious that it will not be subiect to the Law of God Rom. 8.7 And as the horse-rider to pull downe the stomacke of such an horse taketh away his prouender and feedeth him with straw and chaffe and if that will not serue handleth him roughly and beateth him So doth the Lord with our flesh hee taketh away those outward blessings which puffed it vp and made it swell and loadeth it with one affliction after another 1 Cor. 9.27 that so he may beate it downe and bring it into subiection And this is a great benefite to haue the flesh with the cursed lustes and affections thereof mortified and subdued in this maner For it is one of those deadly enemies of our soules Galat. 5.17 with which we must fight and incounter while we liue Now as he that were to enter a single combate with an aduersary that were stronger then himselfe would be glad of some bodie would first weaken and foyle him that so he might the more easily ouercome him In like manner the children of God haue cause to reioyce that it doth please the Lord by outward calamities to tame the flesh and to treade it vnder their feete that so they may with lesse difficulty and danger get the maistery of it Eightly it is a meanes to withdraw our hearts from the loue of the world to raise them vp to the desire of heauenly things Such is the corruption of our nature that we doate too much on this world We are like to foolish children that would not willingly be weaned from the breast and therfore their mother annoynteth the nibbles of her breast with some bitter thing to make them out of loue with it So if wee might haue our wills wee would alwayes hang vpon the breasts of the world would neuer leaue sucking if the Lord did not powder our desires with the crosse and make them bitter to vs. The children of Israel though they were grieuously afflicted in Aegypt to make them more earnestly desire to possesse the land of
Canaan yet we see how hardly they were brought to depart from thence Yea when they were in the way to Canaan they would often haue returned backe againe into Aegypt to their flesh-pots Num i4 3 4 Exod. 16.3 Num. 11.5 their fish their cucumbers their pepons c. If they had liued in preferrement there and enioyed the fatte of the land as they did in Iosephs time Gen. 45.18 and 47.11 it would no doubt haue beene an hard matter to haue perswaded them to depart So it fareth with the most of vs wee are in this world as in a Sea of misery neuer out of one danger or other yet such is our folly we loue to be here still What would we do if we neuer had any thing to molest vs It is a lamentable thing to consider that our mindes should bee so dazeled with the glittring shew of riches plesures honors as they cannot look to heaueÌ„ that our hearts should be so oppressed and weighed downe with couetousnes and ambition that they can not raise vp themselues vnto celestiall cogitations and that our soules should be so ensnared with the pleasant inticements of the flesh that they seeke for their felicitie vpon the earth And therfore the Lord in mercy to preuent this euill doth by daily experience of miseries put his children in minde of the vanity of all earthly things Caluin instit lib. 3. cap 9. sect 1. lest they should promise to themselues a constant and continuall peace in this world hee suffereth them many times to bee disquieted and molested with warres with tumults with robberies and other iniuries lest they should with too much greedines gape after brittle and inconstant riches or should too much rest in those which they doe possesse God bringeth them to pouerty sometimes by banishment sometimes by barrennes of the earth sometimes by fire sometimes by one meanes and sometimes by another lest they should take too much delight in the comfortes of marriage he eyther causeth them to be vexed with the shrewdnesse of their wiues or humbleth them with lewd children or afflicteth them with the losse and death of their children And if it fall out that the Lord doe spare them in all these things yet lest they should either swell with vaine-glorie or reioyce with foolish confidence he chasteneth them with sickenesse and diseases that they may learne how fraile and vnstable all earthly things are and may lift vp their eyes to heauen where that incorruptible crowne of glory is laid vp for them And thus the Lord in his vnspeakeable goodnes many times diminisheth the health of our bodies that we may more earnestly desire the saluation of our souls He taketh away the things of this life that we may more carefully seeke after the things of a better life So that afflictions are like to a great storme at Sea Philip. 1.23 to make the godly wish to be in the hauen As the waters of the deluge the more they increased the higher they bare vp the Arke So the waters of tribulation the greater they are the higher they lift vp the soule towardes heauen according to that speech of Bernard a Per flagella domini spernuntur teâ—rena amantur coelestâ—a De coena dom serm 10 By the Lords corrections we contemne earthly things and loue heauenly And therefore as Zeno b Diog. Laertius in vita Zenonis hauing suffered shipwracke became the Scholler of Crates and studied Philosophie and after said it was an happie shipwracke that made him affect such excellent knowledge So may wee say much more truly It was a blessed sicknes a blessed pouerty a blessed imprisonment c that caused vs to looke towardes the kingdome of heauen Ninthly affliction doeth saue the children of God from hell condemnation If God should let vs alone we would neuer rest till we run headlong to hell as foolish childreÌ„ if they be not hinderd will run into the ditch And therefore it is the Lords mercie to lay the rodde vpon our backs that so we may bethinke our selues of the danger wherein wee stand and may labour to preuent it And this is that which Iob saith Iob 33 16.18 that the Lord openeth the eares of men by corrections that so he may keepe backe their soules from the pit and that their life should not passe by the sword And the Apostle hath a saying to the same purpose i Cor. 11.32 that when we are iudged we are chastened of the Lord because we should not be condemned with the world When a man is desperately about to cast himselfe into the fire or to drowne himselfe in the water can any do him a greater benefite then to preuent him and saue his life So there cannot be a greater benefit to vs then when we are ready to drowne our selues in perdition by our sinnes that the Lord by his corrections should stay vs and holde vs backe Last of all affliction doth fitte and prepare vs for the kingdome of Heauen As the Apostle saith of the Thessalonians that by persecutions and tribulations which they suffered they were counted woorthie of the kingdome of God 2. Thess 1.5 As the parching heat of the Sun ripeneth the corne and maketh it fitte to bee carried into the barn so doth afflictioÌ„ ripen the godly that they may be meet to be gathered into Gods barne And this is done two wayes First because by afflictions â—as wee haue heard wee are purged and purified from our sins which else would hinder vs from comming there Apocal. 21.27 For no vncleane thing shall enter into Gods kingdome As gold must first be purified in the fire before it be laid vp in the kings treasury Prou. 25.4 as wheat must be cleansed from the chaffe before it be laid vp in the garner so must it be with vs. Affliction is the fire that must purge vs 2. Tim. 2.21 to make vs vessels of honour for the house of God and the fan that must clense vs to make vs pure wheat for his garner In the building of Solomons temple 1 Kings 6.7 all the stones were hewen and fitted in the quarry before they were brought thither and There was neither hammer nor axe nor anie toole of yron heard in the temple while it was in building So in the kingdome of heauen which is the spirituall house of God all the liuing stones thereof must be hewen and squared and fitted by afflictions in this life Secondly affliction prepareth vs for heauen because it is a meanes to worke holines in vs Heb. 12.14 without which no man shall euer see the Lord as the Apostle saith We see then by all these gracious effects and blessed fruits which affl ction bringeth with it that Dauid had good cause to say It is good for mee that I haue beene afflicted And therefore wee may conclude with Saint Augustine a Percutis vt sanes â—et occidis nos ne moriamur abs te
â—onfest lib. 2. The Lord smiteth vs that hee may heale vs and killeth vs that wee may not die from him This Doctrine that wee may make Vse 1 some vse of it doth teach vs first of all to labour to perswade our selues of this great and excellent good that affliction bringeth with it that so we may count it exceeding ioy when we fall into it Iames 1.2 I confesse it seemeth otherwise to flesh and bloud For Heb. 12.11 as the Apostle saith truely no chastising for the present seemeth to be ioyous but grieuous As children are loath to feele the smart of the rodde nay they can not indure to heare of it so is our corrupt nature loath and vnwilling to taste of any correctioÌ„ It is death to vs to hear that we must be punished chastened euery morning Psalme 73.14 and that we must be fed with the bread of tears and 10.5 haue tears to drinke in great measure It is a weariesome thing to be alwayes sicke languishing and 107.18 so as the soule abhorreth all maner of meate to be continually full of cramps aches and pains so as neither a mans couch can relieue him nor his bed bring comfort vnto him as Iob saith Iob 7 i3 But when he layeth him downe he saith when shall I rise and the night bee gone and he is full with tossing to and fro vnto the dawning of the day 4. The like may be said of all other afflictions they are as vnsauoury to the flesh as the white of an egge without salt Iob 6.6 And therefore our Sauiour Christ himselfe as he was man Heb. 2 14. and so partaker of our infirmities felt in his flesh a loathnesse to haue tasted of that bitter cup of his Passion Matt. 26.38 39. his soule was heauie vnto the death and therefore hee besought his Father that if it were possible it might passe from him a Ser in fâ—â—ia 5. in Parasc which speech as Bernard noteth seemeth to be the speech of the flesh not of the spirit because he addeth alittle after the spirit is willing but the flesh is weake But we must not measure afflictions by the present smart we feele in them but by the benefit that follows after them For as we haue heard thogh the sense of the present griefe be bitter yet the fruit that commeth after is most sweet and pleasant Affliction is to the soule as Physicke to the body But as coÌ„monly that Physicke which is most wholesome is withall most vntoothsome so that affliction which is most profitable is for the most part most distastefull As the plant which they call Christs thorne Plin. lib 24. cap. 14. is extreme bitter both in the root and in the leaues in the branches but yet is very medicinable for the iuyce of the root cleareth the eyes the seede bringeth downe the after-birth c. So affliction though it be in it selfe most bitter and vnsauoury yet the Lord our most skilfull Physition maketh most soueraigne medicines thereof Psal 103.3 to heale the infirmities of his children whereby it becommeth more profitable to them then by reason of their corruption prosperitie could euer be For as dead flesh if it be kept in sweete water will corrupt and be full of wormes but if it be kept in salt brine it will be preserued long and become wholesome meate for the vse of man so the children of God if they abound with prosperity are easily corrupted but being exercised by the crosse they are preserued from the infection of sinne Secondly it teacheth vs to indeuour by all meanes to profite by the afflictions that God layeth vpon vs that so we may haue experieÌ„ce of this good which they bring with them that seeing God intendeth them for our benefite so wee may not by our owne stubbornnesse and vntowardnes peruert them to our hurt It is as grieuous a sinne as we can commit to harden our hearts when Gods hand is vpon vs. As the Lord complained of the Iewes Ierem. 2.30 I haue smitten your children in vaine they haue receiued no correction And in an other place and 5.3 O Lord saith the Prophet Thou hast stricken them and they haue not sorrowed thou hast consumed them but they haue refused to receiue correction they haue made their faces harder then a stone and haue refused to returne And so it is said of Ahaz 2 Chr. 28.22 that in the time of his tribulation hee did trespasse more against the Lord. Let vs therfore blesse our selues from this height of iniquitie and let vs pray to God to sanctifie all our corrections and chasticements vnto vs that wee may bee bettered and reformed by them So shall they be infallible arguments of his fatherly loue towards vs otherwise they will be fearfull tokens of his wrath and certaine pledges of our condemnation Thirdly it teacheth vs to be patient Vse 3 vnder the crosse For as the Apostle saith Heb. 12.9 If we haue had the fathers of our bodies which corrected vs we gaue them reuerence should we not much rather be in subiection vnto the Father of Spirites that wee may liue especially considering that it is so much for our good A man that is sicke of a burning feuer willingly suffereth himselfe to be let bloud because he knoweth it is a meanes to abate the violence of his disease A man that is pained with the stone patiently yeeldeth himselfe to be cut and tortured by the Physition because hee knoweth it is a means to preserue his life A man that is wounded meekly suffereth the Surgeon to launch and search his wound to the bottome and with sharpe corasiues to eate out the festered core of the vlcer because hee knoweth he can not otherwise be cured Shall all these endure and that with admirable patience so much torment for the good of their bodies and shall not wee much more be willing to suffer Gods sharpest corrections for the benefite of our soules especially seeing our owne sinnes haue deserued the greatest punishments that GOD can inflict Micah 7.9 As the Prophet saith I wil beare the wrath of the Lord because I haue sinned against him And therefore let vs learne meekely and obediently to submitte our selues to the will of God in this case And as hee sendeth afflictions with a right hand let vs not take them with a left An olde Courtier that had serued Caligula Claudius and Nero three cruell tyrants Emperours of Rome being demaunded how he could escape the dangers of those times wherein so many worthie Cittizens were put to death Hee answerd Euen by taking benefits thankfully and by putting vp iniuries patiently If hee could for his owne safetie subdue his minde to beare with patience the open iniuries of such monstrous tyrants how much more should wee submitte our selues with all meeknesse to beare the louing corrections of our most merciful Father And howsoeuer it may